The essential post-festival detox

Your guide to recovering post-festival

Post-festival is a tough time. You’re sleep deprived, your hair feels like straw and for the best part of a week the healthiest thing you’ve eaten are the onions on your double cheese burger. Here we show you how to recover post-festival with this essential detox guide:

Festival detox smoothie

When your body is crying out for hydration and nutrients whip up this rehydrating recovery drink. Take one chilled, skinned and seeded melon (gala, charentais or honeydew work well) and scoop out the flesh. Add the melon and a one-centimetre cube of peeled and chopped ginger into a blender, along with four ice cubes. Whizz up the ingredients and then serve. Once ready, you’ve got a zingy, hydrating and anti-inflammatory drink that will work wonders on both your hangover and your tired, achy body.

Mood boost

Returning back to reality after a festival can be a tad depressing. As a part of your post-festival detox you have to try and boost your mood. A great way to do that is by eating mood-boosting foods, such as chocolate. Chocolate can help you beat the post-festival blues because it can increase your serotonin levels and can leave you feeling content. Another great way to boost your mood is to look back at all of your festival photos. According to research from the Open University looking at photos improved participants’ moods by an incredible 11 per cent.

Nourish your hair

Look at your locks! A lack of showers, long days spent outside and a heavy (some might say addictive) reliance on dry shampoo has probably left your hair looking limp, dry and dull. Now you’re home it’s time to care and nourish your tresses. Use Macadamia Natural Oil’s Healing Oil Treatment to make your hair super soft. Apply a little of this rich oil to the ends of wet hair before drying. The oil will repair dry and damaged hair and leave it frizz-free and silky. A 30ml bottle costs around £12.95, so this isn’t a cheap option, but the results are worth it.

Downward dog

A little gentle exercise, such as yoga, Pilates or a relaxed dip in the pool, might help you to sweat out some of those festival toxins. Remember don’t work out too hard – interval training and strength training is definitely off limits – because you’re probably quite dehydrated. For those of you who are struggling to unwind and relax after the highs of the festival weekend doing a little light exercise should also help you to relax and loosen up.

Energy boost

After all those late nights and long days you’re bound to feel pretty wiped. With the prospect of work looming make sure you give your energy levels a kick start by eating the right kinds of post-festival foods. Snack on bananas, which are naturally high in sugars and eat regular, small meals to keep up your metabolic rate. You should also try to eat foods high in B vitamins and vitamin C, such as tomatoes, spinach, sunflower seeds and wholegrain bread. These foods will help fire you up and power you through to the following weekend when you can sleep in.

Revitalise skin

As part of your post-festival detox give your skin a rejuvenating pampering session. Smoking and drinking puts oxidative stress on the skin, making it look dull. Combat this by exfoliating. Nivea’s Daily Essentials Gentle Exfoliating Scrub (£4.07) is great for getting your glow back. It contains vitamin E, which is especially good for helping to renew skin cells and improve your complexion.

Next it’s time to cleanse and tone your face. Liz Earle’s Hot Cloth Cleanser (£14.75) and their Instant Boost Skin Tonic (£13.25) are soft, gentle and natural – the perfect combination for tired skin. Finally, lather on a decent moisturiser to your body and a facial oil to your face, such as Sanctuary Spa Lipid Recovery Facial Oil (£22).

Foods for immunity

Picking up a bug after a festival is the last thing you want to contend with once you’re home. Try to protect yourself against getting sick by eating foods that help to strengthen your immune system. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, which reinforces the number of white and T blood cells in your immune system. Yoghurt, spinach and broccoli are also great for your immune system and are packed full of antioxidants. Eat lots of fruit and veg to keep your immune system bolstered so that you don’t have to spend your post-festival week ill.